Random Thought of the Week

1) Imran khan being replaced by an Owl in Break ke Baad. imagine that.

2) Is it possible to get out of a bus in Bangalore with your shoes still shiny?

3) Does driving in the wrong lane or against traffic anywhere in the world automatically make you a Hyderabadi?

4) Bangalore needs Trash Cans Immediately.

5) Why is it always YOU who never "tried" to stay in touch with your friends?

" As easy as Pie! "

One of the most challenging and sometimes frustrating aspects of expressing oneself though words is writing. There are a million things going on in one’s head. To channel every thought and to write something that actually makes sense to people is probably the toughest task a person can do.

Simply put writing anything in particular is difficult.

We live in a generation where communication is quite open. If you just log into the net you can see a million views posted for various articles, some diplomatic, subtle and some plain crazy and irrelevant.

People reading try to understand what is this person is trying to convey though his article? It’s not difficult to do that, what is difficult is to write stuff that you actually read.

I haven’t written many blogs, but I always do struggle with the occasional blank white page, just before I do write something that makes sense to me. I have a friend who used to work as a reporter for one of the most popular news papers in India. I used to discuss few issues with him that he used to write about and one thing that he mostly complained about was where do I begin with this subject?

I ask myself the same question. Where does one begin writing anything? I guess all it needs is one thought that you are pretty much clear with.

Human minds are quite puzzling. We may have conquered many aspects of understanding our world and the species that exist in it, but we still do not know much about our own “Noodle”.

It starts off with one thought and pretty much you make stuff up as you proceed. If you feel strongly about a particular subject or topic, am sure you will have a lot of stuff to say about it. Writing it is a whole different battle.

Sometimes, it can be so crazy that you have a thought and you have written some stuff, but it makes sense only to you. That’s when I just save my copy of whatever I have written and keep it there for a day that I have patience to look at it again.

It’s frustrating when people think writing is easy , or can actually justify what one has written , as each one of us reads in a different way and think differently , what might seem nice to one person might offend another. A good writer balances all the issues and I guess in the end tries to read his own article from a third persons point of view. That works pretty well for me.

So for people who feel writing is ‘easy as pie’, I never quite got it,

Do they mean making pie? Or eating it?

Comic Relief

Ro's kuk's- Le Bouchon

A Losing Battle

A lot is being written about the latest scams in India. It is really a matter of great concern
when a country cannot keep its own people in check against corruption but which country can?

The "Youngistan" generation has begun to accept it, a once behind the doors activity that got some people with money and power to achieve their own ideals.

I recently read a blog that posed an open question to Mr Ratan Tata, afer he made the dramatic and somewhat personal comment that he was once asked to pay a 15 cr bribe to setup his own airline
sometime back. The question was what has his organization done to stop corruption in India?

I would like to rephrase that question. What can any organization do to keep a socially existing through the ages and is now more open than before activity that engulfs life itself on a daily basis in check?

There is little that can be said or done, we all have experienced corruption at various levels. There are quite a few who have openly tried to deal with it, but as usual its too big a problem to get rid of .

like so many more.

It plagues our country that is counted as one of the most corrupt to get its act right.

But really on a common forum that discusses various other issues corruption has always been a hot topic. People make many speeches, hold many rallies, organize various groups,make movies mocking it, and showing us various slap on the wrist ways to fight corruption, but reality check can an organization really have that much power to change a billion people?

It sucks that we have generations of Indians growing up with the same ideas and principles that are socially unacceptable and quite frankly immoral.

Even though we have a few people brave enough to fight corruption even though they have the money and all the help possible, if a man like Ratan Tata cannot do anything about it I dont think a common person stands a chance.

There are only two things that can be done in such a scenario,

you either die a hero fighting or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.

Guess that holds true to what we are witnessing today.

I have a solution which is very controversial but its worth a shot, make corruption legal, we cannot fight it, atleast we can stop complaining. have positions in the government that dont pay any salaries, there is a fixed rate to get stuff done , and that would pretty much be it.

its not operational is the slightest sense possible especially in a complex place like India.

But as oganizations grow and chrun out a lot of money , investments rise ,and the global standing of our country reaches new levels, the monster of corruption is growing too. we have very few people who are really true to their conscience and do their job, but as and when they see their own colleagues resorting to such practises they either get in to it or be thrown out. there is really no choice left to them.


It waits to be seen when, how and where the buck stops!!

North South East West .. Got War?

United States wages war in Afghanistan –“Come on now, you all have seen him hide WMDs, Right?”

Tensions mounting between North and South Korea –“You sank my Battleship”.

High level of distrust between India and Pakistan – “India in Afghanistan to attack us. I Knew it!!”
.
Pakistan indirectly wages war in Afghanistan and in its own Borders- “Hey we are doing something , Aright? Back off!!

India and Maoists- “You slap me I blow you up”

Britain in Afghanistan Fighting Terrorists – “Ok USA, We have nothing else to do so might as well…”

India in Afghanistan –“hey I am trying to help my friend America here"

China breaches India border line-They were feeling left out.

Israel and Gaza – have they ever not fought in existence?

So these are some of the news (or mostly what one sees) on a day to day basis. People or rather countries on the verge of fighting or in the battle ground already. One thing that the war in Afghanistan has made clear to the world is that you cannot have your cake and eat it too. USA or rather Bush and now Obama at the moment, are yet to taste the icing.
Though most of the fighting is for World Peace, is it going anywhere? Are people feeling more secure, safe and are people really free?

One thing is for certain; all of the countries fighting Terror Groups in Afghanistan may have reduced the number of terrorist attacks but have not yet figured out how to stop them once and for all. It’s not easy but sometimes I feel in this age of technology and countries possessing so much military strength and financial backing , still find it difficult to track down one person responsible for almost everything bad going on in this world.

Countries have not only started to panic for obvious reasons but are going into overdrive. No one feels safe anymore. People live in some countries not knowing if they will see another day alive. It can no longer be termed as ‘Fear’; it has unfortunately become a way of life.

You might have seen the movie “A Wednesday” where naseeruddin shah plays the role of a normal middle class person, who takes on the government’s lenient approach to terrorists and in turn blows them up. That movie has triggered many discussions whether people termed as terrorists deserve to have rights. Recently the lone terrorist involved in the Times Square Plot has clearly shunned all ideas that America after 9 11 , in spite of beefing up security 1000 fold , still can be penetrated and with ease. He unfortunately being a citizen of USA was given rights which for reasons unknown were waived by him.

As tony stark(iron man) once said “Peace means having a bigger stick than the other guy”, holds true to what all countries feel like.
I often wonder, do the people who are on the other side know what they do are bad? Because just how we feel they are bad and we are good, they may feel that we are bad and they are good!

Terrorism remains to be the most sensitive and dangerous form of all problems the world faces at this moment. This can very much trigger a war that will see countries take sides. Hardly have I felt the terrorists are acting on their own. We may not know much but there are powerful people and countries backing them. It’s not possible for so many people to go unnoticed unless there was someone more powerful than them shielding their every move. Unfortunately you can’t go around pointing at people when you don’t have enough proof.

People will go to any length to seek a possible solution to the worlds never ending problems. But bear in mind that these problems are not ordinary and they require not only time but also a lot of money, people and commitment to continue the fight until the end. After the first war against weapons of mass destruction happened, people were happy momentarily, but the glaring fact remains that the war has not yet been won, it has just started.

I fail to see what solutions we can achieve with the direction this world is heading to. Not only are we fighting against certain groups but we are fighting against time too. We may very well win the war on terrorism some day but at what cost? It still remains to be seen.

Rather than trying to grab headlines with what little progress countries seem to be making in their own respective fights. I doubt we will see a day when everything stops and people promote life, more than anything else.

Me being mostly skeptical about what I just said above,believe that unless you have the most biggest powerful weapon that human kind has ever known, will the world actually take notice of you and do as you say.

For some the weapon might just be Love.

But again being skeptical of what I just said it has been proved that “Fear is more powerful than Love”.

Perfect Harmony amidst Total Chaos

Land of so many things, it’s hard to keep up or take note of. But there’s always something happening here, some good things but mostly bad. India has in more ways than one, again has raised its rather confused head and is eyeing the top spot in the world while still missing the bigger picture.

I was thinking for quite some time about some of the events happening, it is very surprising to witness how the govt seems to be tacking the naxal problems while being totally clueless about how to really reach a possible peaceful solution. Sometimes it’s good that there is democracy here, but when so many people are involved it’s very difficult to understand who is actually running the show.

While all these political games are being played India’s biggest threat is not from terrorists anymore it is undoubtedly the naxal problem and this may continue to drag India down from reaching the top spot.
We see so much development in some areas and cities and not an ounce of it in most places. People fail to understand that unless everything is developed, unless people are educated with basic stuff, India cannot move forward. I don’t doubt we are being eyed by other countries as being hesitant to come here and setup businesses as many have taken the risk of doing it and have been dealing with unthinkable problems. In the longer run, we as a developing country will stagnate and not see any progress at all; come to think of it we have been a “Developing Country” for quite some time now.

With success comes its own weird set of problems and it’s the Indian public that is facing the heat. Consider the recent Plane crash in Mangalore, no sooner that it happened the airways minister put in his resignation. It does not make sense for someone who needs to step up and figure out what exactly happened than to turn his back and run. This is where I don’t like democracy; there are so many people who have no work but to drag others down. It’s one thing doing your job and it’s quite another fighting all the time trying to keep it. We tend to see this in all aspects of work even though it may not be as serious as dealing with lives like few organizations do.

Come to think of it no place is perfect and people are learning to live and take each day as it comes, rather sad way to live though but like one says its lonely at the top, might as well enjoy all the company and comforts one has before it gets too complicated.
And for all those who wish to see the real India, you will find us living in "perfect harmony amidst total chaos".